‘Sir Jim Ratcliffe is a tax exile hypocrite whose racist rant will gasoline Man Utd hatred’
Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s racist, repugnant and repellent comments about UK immigration have alienated and antagonised people both inside and outside of Manchester United
(Image: PA)
Making Manchester United more hated takes some doing – but Sir Jim Ratcliffe has managed it.
And it could be his most startling achievement since becoming a co-owner of the club back in 2024. His ‘Gerald Ratner moment’ won’t bring the club to the brink of bankruptcy, like what happened to the jewellers after Ratner decided to label his products as ‘crap’ back in 1991. But in denigrating an entire nation, let alone a retail outlet like Ratner did, Ratcliffe has given all those who despise United a humongous stick to continue beating them with.
“Hated, Adored, Never Ignored”. United have never been – and never will be – someone’s second favourite team. But Ratcliffe’s crude and cretinous complaints about UK immigration, leave United’s own supporters struggling to find the merits in continuing to do so.
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Ratcliffe is now alienating and antagonising people both inside and out of United. He complains the UK has been “colonised by immigrants”, without having the wit to recognise the club he part owns is famed for its embracing of said immigrants.
His own team started this week’s game at West Ham with eight players who were born outside the UK. Someone should ask the thoughts of a certain Eric Cantona.
One of United’s true greats, who just happened to come from France. Someone Ratcliffe once said had been the catalyst that galvanised the team for the next 25 years.
He derides people coming to these shores, not contributing to the system and taking benefits from it, while the blokes he co-owns United with live in Florida, never come to Manchester, but still take benefits and huge dividends out.
Ratcliffe turned his back on the UK a long time ago, and moved to Monaco in order to save billions in tax. Blaming benefit claimants for the UK’s failing economy, while avoiding having to contribute significant sums to it yourself, is not even something Ratcliffe deserves to have an opinion on.
But he believes he does. And the reason for this is because people like Ratcliffe talk behind that gilded arrogance of believing they are untouchable. The hypocrisy of this billionaire is off the charts.
Not least because since his INEOS group bought a stake in United, it has spent £430m on non-UK players. £300m of which “immigrated” to England, because they were signed from another country. How much have United spent on UK-born talent since the takeover? The answer is less than £2m.
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Let’s not forget the man from Monaco wanted UK taxpayers’ money to help fund the building of a new stadium for United. Or the fact he has made hundreds of working class people redundant from United since taking charge.
One of the numerous decisions he admits has made him unpopular at the club. But the genuine dislike and hatred of Ratcliffe now extends way beyond Manchester.
What the club’s commercial partners make of it all is anyone’s guess. Ratcliffe is supposed to be a knight of the realm, for goodness sake. Whatever that means, these days.
But his comments are nothing short of racist, repugnant and repellent. English football has no place in it for owners like Ratcliffe.
